The latest trading session saw ServiceNow (NOW) ending at $850.63, denoting a -1.9% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.52%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.7%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of software that automates companies' technology operations had lost 15.27% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 8.51% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.56% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of ServiceNow in its upcoming release. On that day, ServiceNow is projected to report earnings of $3.78 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 10.85%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $3.09 billion, up 18.55% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $16.24 per share and revenue of $13.04 billion, which would represent changes of +16.67% and +18.69%, respectively, from the prior year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for ServiceNow. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. ServiceNow presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, ServiceNow is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 53.39. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 22.85, which means ServiceNow is trading at a premium to the group.

Also, we should mention that NOW has a PEG ratio of 2.22. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Computers - IT Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.12 at yesterday's closing price.

The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 51, finds itself in the top 21% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.

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ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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